Week 5: MatheMAGICAL Ideas!

Hello teacher friends,

Hope you are all enjoying your much deserved break! Since we did not have regular classes last week, I want to discuss other math adventures I got up to. First, last Monday was webinar day for my partner, Mohamed and I! We touched upon Financial Literacy, a newly separated branch in mathematics that addresses numeracy in our society. We wanted to express how important it is that each individual be financially literate because it is a skill that equips us in making decisions that can affect us for the remainder of our lives. It allows us to be self-sufficient and independent as we learn to manage money matters like budgeting, saving, spending, and consumer awareness. All of our information is available on Sakai, but I wanted to provide you with a few quick tips & tricks when beginning to integrate financial literacy in your J/I Math Program.

 Steps to integrating financial literacy:

1. Research! Ask yourself: How much do my students know already? (prior

knowledge) What do they need to know at their age? (appropriateness) What finance education is your school currently delivering?(curriculum)

2.Plan! What do you want to achieve and how are you going to do it?

(learning goals + process) How will they learn best? (resources, environment, learning style/multiple intelligences)
 

3.Differentiate! (This is pretty self-explanatory at this point. Include opportunities for visual, kinesthetic, auditorial components, etc.)

4.Assess the Impact! What have students learned & how did they respond? (reflection)

If you did not attend our webinar but would like to see what else we discussed in greater detail, watch it below!

Now, for the other math venture.. I attended a PD workshop, hosted by the Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association (OECTA) last Wednesday. The topic was extremely intriguing, as it promised fun, interactive, and communicative math techniques, hence its name, "Mathemagical Ideas." We were introduced to SO many neat resources. Before this workshop, I had no idea how many storybooks related to mathematics were available! Literature would be a fantastic way to enrich our math lessons, especially if you are an avid book reader and literature lover like myself! Here's a compiled list of the mentioned books:

One is a Snail, Ten is a Crab by April Pulley Sayre and Jeff Sayre

12 Ways to Get to 11 by Eve Merriam

Mission Addition by Loreen Leedy

Subtraction Action by Loreen Leedy

Two Too Many by Jo Ellen Bogart

10 for Dinner by Jo Ellen Bogart

Five Creatures by Emily Jenkins

The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins

Six-Dinner Sid by Inga Moore

Ten Times Better by Richard Michelson

The Best of Times by Greg Tang

2 X 2 = BOO! By Loreen Leedy

Amanda Bean’s Amazing Dream by Cindy Neuschwander

 Although most books are geared towards P/J expectations, I believe we can still use these books as a great entry point and conversation starter surrounding certain mathematical concepts.

As for my favourite game that was played...we were introduced to a game called "Last One to School." All markers begin in the little houses. Students, in pairs, practice their doubles by rolling a 10-sided dice or using cards. If the double is rolled, the student places their marker in the "school." The first one to school, wins! This game is simple yet engaging enough for students to practice their multiplication skills. To increase the difficulty, have your students do "double + 1", or "double -1", including new elements.

Photo taken by me. Oct 4, 2017.

That's all for now! Make sure you're back next week for my final math blog post for the year! (Wow, where has the time gone?!)

Have a beau-tea-ful day every one!

Miss Capano